Conversation
by November Rain 19
Summary: Short little Catherine and Sara friendship piece. Eludes to one sided G/S. Takes place after 'Play With Fire' 40th fic too.


Author's Notes: This has probably been done before, but I am new to this fandom and to this 'ship so any resemblance to anyone else's work is most sincerely apologized for. I've only begun wading through all the wonderful fics. This is a Catherine and Sara friendship piece with them talking about one-sided S/G. Sara's lines are italics. It'll make sense at the end. 

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. Never will be. 

Spoilers: 'Play With Fire' and little bit of 'Lady Heather's Box' 

Dedication: For the Sara Sidle in my life.   


  


Conversation   
By Melissa 

  


Catherine comes to sit by Sara. The blonde stares at the brunette intensely as if trying to dissect her with her eyes. 

_"I'm not a specimen under a microscope, you know."_

"Yeah, the specimen is more forthcoming and it can't speak. What's up with you lately?" 

_"Can I ask you something?"_

"Sure…" Catherine responded with slight trepidation. Normally nothing good can come of conversation starting out with those words. Sara seemed to be in a rare sharing mood so Catherine was going to play along. 

_"Why did you and Grissom never get together?"_

Catherine gave a throaty laugh, a cross between someone who hadn't laughed for a while and being shocked at the absurdity of such a question. She decided to counter with one of her own. "Can't a man and woman be friends without it ever turning into something more?" 

_"Not unless one of them is gay."_

She hit her playfully on the arm. "I can't speak for Grissom, but I do not play for the other team." 

_"Yeah, but imagine if you did. Greg would have enough fantasy fuel for a year."_

Catherine made a face at the notion of Greg fantasizing about her. Sara continued. 

_"I don't think Grissom is, though it would help explain why he turned me down."_

"Yeah, he mentioned something about you asking him out." 

_"He didn't even hesitate. He just said 'no.'"_

"Grissom has always thought with his head instead of his heart." 

_"He has a heart?"_

Catherine gave her a reproving look. "Sara…" 

_"We should call him the Tinman. Can't be the Scarecrow because we all know he has a brain. Or maybe he's the Cowardly Lion; always running away from anything closely resembling a connection with another human being."_

"You shouldn't give up on him. You like puzzles, right? Well, he's the toughest one there is." 

_"Does he even have a solution?"_

"Does that matter?" 

_"It's nice knowing whether or not you can solve a puzzle."_

The blonde smirked at the younger woman. "Who do you think you're kidding, huh? I've seen you attack problems knowing full well that they may not be an answer, or one that you can find." 

_"There's always an answer. There's always a clue."_

"Someone's been taking lessons from our resident entomologist." 

_"Not the kind I want to be taking."_

Catherine's eyebrows shot up at that. It wasn't often that Sara spoke so candidly, though Catherine could sympathize with her frustration. It was difficult to want someone who did not return those feelings. 

"Look. You took a shot and it didn't work out the way you hoped. So the way I see it you have one of three choices. One: pine away and be tortured by being near him nearly every single day, two: leave, or three: be the tenacious CSI we've all come to know and love. Because, honestly, I'm not going to sit by and let the first two happen." 

_"I don't want him to be with me just because I wear him down."_

The blonde attempted to hide a smile. "I wasn't suggesting you 'wear him down' as you put it. Just keep after him a little longer, and maybe he'll see the light." 

_"Maybe…"_

"So you're not going to give up on him?" 

_"It remains to be seen."_

Catherine shrugged at that. "There are only so many tomorrows." 

_"Thanks, _Mom._"_

The blonde CSI smirked and then left Sara alone with her thoughts. 

*** 

Catherine started at the sound of a door being opened. She raised her arm to block off the offending brightness.   
Dr. Robbins paused at the doorway a moment upon seeing Catherine. He slowly shook his head with a mixture of sadness and pity. 

"Catherine..." 

"Don't, Doc. Just…don't," Catherine said around a yawn while massaging her temples. 

"I meant it about Eddy and I especially mean it now. You can't say good-bye here," he paused as a sigh escaped, "No one should ever have to." 

Catherine wasn't looking at Dr. Robbins as he said this. Her attention was focused on the long steel tray in front of her. Using her latex covered hand she pushed a few strands of dark hair behind the ear of the person laying in front of her. 

"I wasn't saying good-bye…" Catherine whispered as she pulled the sheet back up to completely cover her friend. Hot tears were threatening to escape now. She hadn't allowed herself to grieve, yet. 

She slid the tray back inside the drawer and closed the door with a resounding metal on metal click. 

"…I was just having a conversation." 

The End   


More Author's Notes: Yeah, Sara died. Was Catherine having a conversation with the body, or just replaying an earlier conversation? Or maybe she was dreaming? Hehe, it's up to you. Let me know how I did? (Oh yeah, and I don't really believe that Catherine/Grissom is an absurd idea (as written in the fic) I'm actually a fan. Don't kill me:) Until next time. 

"Learn not to procrastinate the matters of the heart, for eventually, it will come back to haunt you with icy fingers. Instead, learn to feel, learn to cry, learn to embrace and to accept it... Then learn to love yourself."   
  



End file.
